Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

7/31/17

Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne star in the sci-fi adventure “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” Raetd: A-III, PG-13. TF1 FILMS | CNS

Flashy but lightweight sci-fi adventure, set in the 28th
century, in which a duo of intergalactic law enforcement agents (Dane DeHaan
and Cara Delevingne) share romantic tension as well as a series of
crime-busting exploits involving the legacy of a destroyed planet and the fate
of the titular metropolis, a mega-space station under threat from an
unidentified force. In adapting a series of graphic novels by Pierre Christin
and Jean-Claude Mezieres, writer-director Luc Besson excels at such sequences
as an interdimensional chase through an exotic bazaar. Yet his sometimes
baroquely overwrought film is longer on style than ultimate impact. Though the
love story sees DeHaan's playboy character anxious to mend his ways in favor of
marital commitment, moreover, his detour through the vast craft's gritty
red-light district suggests even most mature teens should skip this trip to the
stars and instead stay safely earthbound.

Watch out for: Gunplay and
other stylized violence, a prostitution theme, scenes of sensuality with partial
nudity, a mild oath and a couple of uses each of crude and crass language.